Teleological
Argument
Learning Intentions:
By the end of this lesson you will be
able to…
1. Describe the Teleological Argument
as set out by William Paley.
Design and Evolution
This section of the course looks at the
complexity of the world and how it
could have been created.
1) Intelligent designer (GOD)
2) Evolution
This Picture is of a fly’s eye. A fly is a tiny creature with a tiny eye
yet that eye is enormously complex and sophisticated. Many
people believe that something so complex and sophisticated could
not have happened by accident and that God must have designed
it. This is called the Design Argument.
William Paley
Paley was a Vicar in the Church of England and lived from
1743-1805
Paley said “Imagine you were
walking across a heath…
and you found a rock lying in the
path.
You would think…’oh a rock. That's
probably always just been here’.
Then you would forget about it.
You would think that because a
rock is a simple thing with no
apparent function or design.
You keep on walking and
you find lying on the
path….
A watch
You would think….
‘someone must have made
this and someone must
have put it here.’
And if you opened it up
and looked at all the wee
tiny bits . You would
realise that it had been
designed and built with a
purpose.
Something so complex
and with such an obvious
purpose could not be the
result of an accident.
Someone must have made
it that way”
“Now” said Paley “Think
about the world. Think
about how complex and
sophisticated it is.
Think about how well it
supports life..
Think about particularly
how well it supports
human life.
Think about how
amazingly complicated
even the tiniest bits are
“The world is like a watch. It is complex and sophisticated
and it has a clear and obvious purpose. So Like the watch
the world must need a designer”
The only being who could
design something as
complex and
sophisticated as the
world is God So God
must exist
Group Task
• Use your big sheet
of paper to produce
a comic strip of
Paley’s journey.
• Both the journey
along the path and
the journey in his
thoughts should be
shown.
N.B. You must show every step of the process: going
for a walk, the stone, the watch, thinking about the
universe comparing the universe and the watch.